Local prospect Biddle biding his time

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- When you talk with Jesse Biddle, you feel like you’re speaking with someone older than 21. Not only does he come across as more mature than his age, but you get the sense that he is aware of it, as well.

Thirty-two months ago, the Germantown Friends product was the first-round selection of the Phillies, a strapping left-hander with a lively arm and an even livelier imagination.

“When I signed,” Biddle said, “I was like, ‘I’m going to be in the big leagues by the time I’m 19.’”

It was confident thinking. Or, it was silly thinking. You can count the number of players who have made their debuts as teenagers over the past decade on one hand. The number of pitchers is two -- Seattle’s Felix Hernandez, perhaps the best pitching prospect of the last quarter-century, and Baltimore’s Dylan Bundy, who got to make two relief appearances with the Orioles in 2012 when their pitching staff was so wracked by injuries and thinned by a long extra-inning game late in the year that they had little choice but to turn to the 19-year-old.

Biddle thought he was mature enough to do it after being selected with the 28th overall pick in 2010. Fortunately, he was mature enough to realize quickly that this professional baseball business is a little trickier than that.

“I understand that isn’t really possible,” Biddle said. “You don’t really understand the grind until you get into it. You don’t understand how long the season is, or how many good players there are, until you get here and are in the middle of it.

“When you’re drafted out of high school you figure, ‘I’m the best player in my high school, so I’ll probably be the best player down here.’ But that doesn’t happen.”

That is not to say Biddle was delivered some devastating dose of reality. In his three professional seasons he has been, well, very good. Consistent. A steady riser.

At Class A Clearwater last season, Biddle went 10-6 with a 3.22 ERA. He was a workhorse, leading the Florida State League in strikeouts (151) and finishing fourth in innings pitched (142 2/3) while being the only pitcher among the top 10 in those categories to be less than 21 years old the entire season.

In past years, Phillies first-round picks like Cole Hamels and Brett Myers had been given a perk and offered a non-roster invitation to spring training with the major-league club after their third season in the organization. That didn’t happen for Biddle this spring -- and, to be fair, the Phillies have a glut of young pitchers on their 40-man roster this year.

It has offered Biddle a lesson in patience, and he certainly speaks in diplomatic tones when asked about it.

“I wasn’t really sure (if he’d get invited to camp),” he said. “Obviously I knew it wasn’t my 40-man roster year, so I wasn’t really worried about that. But I feel like I had a relatively successful year last year, and the fact is that when I deserve to be in big-league camp is when I’ll be there. If they don’t feel I deserve to be there, that’s OK. Either way I’m going to start where I’m going to start and pitch how I’m going to pitch.

“No matter what, I’m so excited to be here and playing for the Phillies. I can’t get over it.”

And that can play a part in how the Phillies are handling Biddle. There have been plenty of players over the years who were drafted out of an organization’s backyard -- teens who went from being fans of a team, to employees. And it isn’t always the easiest thing to do. When things go well for the local boy, he’s a cult hero. But when things go badly ... it can get overwhelming.

Biddle gets the trappings that can occur. But to him, the upside outweighs the risks by a lot.

“I don’t think I’d ever call it a curse,” he said. “It’s such an unbelievable opportunity for making my dream of playing for the Phillies a reality. I could never, ever call it a curse.

“But I can say that being from Philadelphia ... there is a certain point that being from Philadelphia, living in Philadelphia, the Phillies are constantly talked about -- sports radio, everything. It’s constantly on my brain, and there are times where it would be nice to take a step back and not really think about it. There are benefits of flying across the country and being away from the Phillies (talk).

“But I would never change my situation for anything.”

This offseason Biddle spent three months at the Ambler Sports Academy, working with kids as they did offseason baseball training. He saw it as a chance to stay enthusiastic about the game in a refreshing manner, while remaining in condition. He arrived in Clearwater early, renting his own place and heading to the Carpenter Complex to get a jump on his preparation. He started each of the last two seasons with rough Aprils. He wants to change that.

That goes with what is an obsession with improvement. He was one of the best Class A pitchers last year. He wants to be even better in Double-A Reading -- not that he ever feels complete satisfaction.

“I expect myself to perform better than I do,” Biddle admitted. “Probably the only outing (in 2012) that I got done with and I was really happy with it was when I threw seven no-hit innings (Aug. 17), and I walked off and thought, ‘You know, I probably did a pretty good job tonight.’ But that’s it. If I don’t do that, I say to myself, ‘Did I do enough to get us a win?’ And if I have that checkmark, I’m probably not going to be mad at myself.

“Getting a win is the most important thing. But there always are things you can improve on ... if I throw seven shutout (innings) I want to throw eight the next time.”

And if he didn’t earn a chance to show his stuff in spring training this year, there will be next.